


Every Version Of Me

by bluejoseph



Series: Hozier is nice [4]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), Dema fic, FPE, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 01:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18841249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluejoseph/pseuds/bluejoseph
Summary: There is no room for the loud, the rambunctious. There is no room for joy. But Tyler finds some, anyway; here, in the tunnels beneath the city.





	Every Version Of Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TwoBoysInABand](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=TwoBoysInABand).



> for TwoBoysInABand! I'm sorry it took so long for me to write this, and I'm sorry it's so short, but I hope you enjoy it! the title comes from jackie and wilson by hozier

Nothing is safe, in Dema. That should be made clear from the beginning.

You have to tiptoe constantly, staying as silent as possible in every way possible. Every day is walked on a wire. Your brain has to evolve, to change, to accommodate every possible outcome. You have to learn to avoid anything that the bishops could find fault in, or risk terrible punishment.

There is no room for the loud, the rambunctious. There is no room for joy.

But Tyler finds some, anyway; here, in the tunnels beneath the city.

It’s a tremendous risk. He knows he could be found, taken back, and forced to endure unspeakable things as penance. Josh, as a rebel--a bandito--would suffer, too, and likely be executed for his crimes.

But this is what keeps Tyler alive. These moments beneath the city give him the energy to endure the grueling work the bishops place before him. These moments will give him the courage to keep trying when he struggles to sleep at night, terrified of the approaching dawn.

He pushes thoughts like these out of his mind, for now. He needs to be present.

They’re sitting against the cold stone walls of the tunnel, huddled close together. It’s cold, but that’s mostly an excuse to be near one another. 

They don’t get to see one another often, but it happens. Josh will send a signal to let Tyler know that he’s coming--he sends one of the vultures to perch on the roof of Tyler’s housing unit. The vultures, Tyler thinks, are on the banditos’ side, but it’s hard to tell. 

When he travels down to the tunnels that night, cloaked by darkness, he can scarcely breathe from excitement of seeing his love, and the thrill of being on the run. 

The second Josh’s eyes meet his, they’re running, and then colliding into one another. Their kisses are warm and desperate and joyful; it doesn’t matter how long they’ve been apart.

Now, Josh is holding Tyler’s hands in his own, rubbing them to keep them warm. “How are things in the city?”

Tyler just shakes his head. Nico is a cruel leader, making examples of the smaller, weaker citizens so that the others will stay in line. Sometimes, Tyler is one of those citizens.

Josh presses soft kisses to his knuckles, then his fingers, and Tyler forgets all about the city.

Time passes. They kiss, they smile, they talk in soft whispers. Too quickly, their time together is up.

As tempting as it is, Tyler can’t leave the city to be with Josh. While his absence would probably be easily overlooked by the bishops, he doesn’t want to leave the others. The people in his district that Nico belittles, the people that would see Tyler as dead if he were to disappear. He barely knows their names, but they’re small, they’re weak, they’re like him: the few, the proud, the emotional. He won’t leave them.

Tyler fails to get up twice, because Josh pulls him back down or looks at him with that soft, quiet sort of sadness that makes him stop and crouch and kiss him like he was born to.

Finally, on his third try, he is able to step away. Josh turns, sad but hopeful, promising to come back as soon as he can. The air is colder, emptier without him in it, but he walks down the tunnels, towards the city, away from his love.

Later--tomorrow--Tyler will be in the fields, hands scraped raw from the tools he uses to care for the crops, clothes covered in soil and back aching from crouching over for hours with no breaks, and he will think of these moments. He will think of those moments, with Josh, and he will smile. And he will keep going.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr, I'm @bbluejoseph


End file.
